Adeptus Mechanicus (Ordo)
Adeptus Mechanicus lore "War is the science of destruction." Basically what happens when you combine the extreme technophilia and cyborg-fetishism of the Cyberpunk Genre with the religiosity and aesthetics of Medieval Gothic, the Adeptus Mechanicus; formerly known as the Mechanicum and often shortened as Admech, is an organization in the Ordo(In the loosest sense of the word) responsible for technology, engineering and most of the Ordo's Industrial production, as well as the operation of the Airship Legions. They are powered by the Tech Priest who have crystals in their back o unknown power (we just found them on the side of the road and were like fuck it lets try it) these were of the runic crystals that are used in the ordos weapons (ie the hand cannon) The Adeptus Mechanicus, whose individual members are known as Servitors, own thousands of heavily polluted cities-factories known as Forge cities, which are covered in massive manufactoria or, as they are known to speakers of Low Gothic, 'work'. The largest forge world of the Adeptus Mechanicus is Belldren, hometown of the Adeptus Mechanicus, on which the most badass weapons ever known to man are made. Despite being part of the Ordo, the AdMech is actually its own nation and a respectable superpower in its own right. The 'being-part-of-the-Ordo' shlick is just a symbolic gesture of goodwill signed by the Treaty of Belldren. Because of this, the AdMech is arguably more powerful than the ordo as they hold claim to all the various Forge Cities, Mining Towns and Research Stations needed for the production of machines of war for the Ordo. Essentially speaking, the AdMech can survive without the Ordo, the Ordo can most certainly afford to do the same, as at the time of writing, the AdMechs only have 6 active members. The faculty of engineering never looked so cool! They also have a monopoly on Airships, Ordinatus, and other wonderful stuff—only letting the Imperials have it when really, really necessary (or if they're threatened personally). They have two armies of their own, which are not anything like the ordo military, as they are mostly composed of badass angry cyborgs and boxy techno grunge robots that are more violent than ED209, and giant, tank-crushing, lobotomized minions. Their primary reason for hoarding all the good shit is to keep it out of the hands of Chaos in case an army rebels, though they're also territorial as fuck when it comes to technology. They typically look like a cross between Jawas and Doctor Octopus, as well as wearing the sort of rebreather masks that you'll typically see on riot police. "If you run from technology, it will chase you." The "Machine Spirit" isn't the Ordo's version of Artificial Intelligence, mainly because after the reunification of fes; the Omnissiah forbade the use of AI in machinery (partly because of the ancient rebellion of the Men of Iron, but mostly to prevent Chaos-corrupted AIs from skullfucking them, Skynet style). For all the importance of Machine Spirits to the Mechanicus, it's not entirely clear what they actually are. One theory holds that there is actually a semi-sentient AI fragment in pretty much everything electronic, a leftover from the Age of Strife. These "ghosts in the machine" quite literally must be appeased, or else they'll fuck with the targeting systems in your Bolter at the worst possible moment, start doing doughnuts with your Land Raider, and generally act like dicks. All the ritual and apparent silliness of the Cult Mechanicus, then, is actually necessary to keep the machines operating. The prevailing theory within the Mechanicus itself would seem to hold that a Machine Spirit is a fragment of the Machine God itself. Whether this is simply rhetoric (you need to keep your gun oiled, or it'll backfire, and the cogboys are just really picky about how you oil it) or the actual truth (the Machine God extends its awareness to literally every machine in the universe, which is disturbingly more possible than one might think), the fact remains that Machine Spirits are real enough to severely ruin your day (or your continent, in the case of an itinerant Land Raider), and the ritual and mysticism surrounding the Cult Mechanicum's everyday activities is far more important to them than even the Imperial Creed. The Techpriests of Belldren got around the restrictions against "Abominable Intelligence" in true WH40K grimdark fashion: cut out the "Artificial" part and make it organic, and vice versa. Nearly every piece of sophisticated machinery in the Imperium operates via a cogitator, analogous to a modern-day microchip, which is basically the cloned or recycled brain of a human converted to function like a horrific cyborg version of a CPU. This interpretation of the "Machine Spirit" is particularly disturbing, to be sure, but is a necessity because the Iron Men incident and Age of Strife in general made the Imperium fear the "Silica Animus". The only true difference between a semi-organic cogitator and a true AI is that their machine spirits have no ability to learn or improve on their own, and therefore must be manually programmed by their operators if they need to learn or do anything that is outside their current programming. Thus, it is now nearly (but not entirely) impossible for machines to rebel on their own, quelling the fears of the Imperium. In any of these cases, it can be easily understood why machines are revered by the Mechanicus and why they are treated like sentient beings. Although, the AdMech is a bit fuzzy just how sentient machines are; are they somehow capable of thought like organics or no more sentient than your bread toaster at home? Skitari Lore The Skitarii are the cybernetic infantry forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Skitarii regiments that go to war alongside the Mechanicus' Airships are equipped with various esoteric weapons of war. Part man and part machine, most Skitarii are cybernetically-linked to their personal weapon for increased performance. Skitarii are born into service either as natural-born human Menials of the Mechanicus who are cybernetically enhanced or in some cases as clones or vat-born humans who are cybernetically enhanced from the moment of their accelerated "birth". Skitarii train with their weapon until they are of the age to be sent to a war zone. To guarantee their undying loyalty to the Mechanicus they usually undergo various forms of psychosurgery to wipe their minds of both emotion and personality. The Skitarii do not simply crush their foes, but instead pitilessly blast them into bloody chunks of flesh. Even as they do so they record every tiny screed of battle data for later analysis. Just as the Skitarii exload the martial capabilities of the foe to their masters, the Tech-priests inload their own programs into the Skitarii. It is usual practice for a legion's overseer Tech-priests to monitor each battle from a scryer-airship high above. Floating in a sea of data, each adept sends battlefield commands down via data-tethers to the Skitarii on the planet below. In this way their soldiers can be remotely augmented, used as eyepieces, forced into suicidal engagements, or even possessed entirely. The ever-devout Skitarii see these incidents as the divine spirit of the Omnissiah entering them and acting through them to the betterment of the Imperium. To the Tech-priests, their minions are little more than electric puppets jerking upon strings of pre-programmed impulse. The Skitarii Legions do not fight alone, for they escort the vast goliaths of the Centurio Ordinatus to war, and even march in the shadow of the god-machines of the Titan Legions. It is the Skitarii that bolster the battle robots of the Legio Cybernetica and they who act as bodyguards for Tech-priests brave enough to take the field. Skitarii are often also referred to as the Mechanicus' "Tech-Guard". Some Mechanicus factions recycle the organic portions of the bodies of dead Servitors and Skitarii as raw material for the formation of new vat-grown Servitors or Skitarii. The Crimson Guard rival any of the armed forces within the Calixis Sector. Tech priests Lore for the Tech Priests Any member of the Cult Mechanicus over the rank of Priest initiate will often be referred to as a Tech-priest, though Magi and higher ranks are usually referred to by their rank. Tech-priests can usually be recognized by their clothing, which unless their work requires otherwise will usually be robes of rust-red or black coloration, and by their cybernetic nature. Some Tech-priests also carry a large wrench-like tool, that doubles as an ax-headed close-combat weapon, adorned with Adeptus Mechanicus imagery upon the head. The amount of cybernetic augmentation found in a Tech-priest is highly dependent on his rank within the Cult Mechanicus; a novice may have only one or two augmetic systems, if any, while very senior members may have only a few biological organs left in their bodies. Common cybernetic augmentations for Tech-priests include: * Bionic limbs and organs, which may replace the originals because of an accident or simply because they provide enhanced capabilities or cater to the special needs the Tech-priest may face in his chosen work or scientific research. * Bionic eyes, which allow a Tech-priest to see beyond the normal spectrum of human vision, augment or alter electromagnetic input to allow night vision or heat vision, and zoom in to magnify an image. * Mechadendrites, bionic tentacles that attach to the spine to afford the Tech-priest greater mobility, greater lifting and manipulation capabilities, an easy neural interface with most other forms of technology and, in many cases, a handy weapon in a fight. These powerful devices are usually customized to suit the work needs of their wearer and can therefore include special features like medical equipment, maintenance tools or weapons. Larger Mechadendrites can often extrude a monomolecular blade or fire projectiles in combat or simply be used as a blunt instrument. A Cortical Implant is also usually required for the Tech-priest to be able to effectively control the additional limbs. * Autosanguination, a process by which all the natural blood in a human body is removed and replaced with a more efficient oxygen and waste-carrying synthetic chemical substitute, allowing for the easier healing of wounds and more effective immunological defense against disease and toxins. * Cortex Implants, which vary in function from simple memory circuit implants in the neurocortex intended to improve memory function to slim micro-cogitators that provide full computing abilities. Many senior Tech-priests use smaller implants of this type to preserve their mind and memories from the ravishes of time, and to lessen their dependence on fragile flesh. Cortex Implants of good quality are very rare and hard to produce, but provide the wearer eidetic memory and heighten their intelligence and ability to consume and correlate large amounts of data. Among the oldest Tech-priests only a few portions of the original brain tissue remain. The use of Cortex Implants is probably the primary reason why senior Tech-priests live far longer than the rest of the Imperial elite. * Electoos, metal circuits embedded in the epidermic skin of Tech-priests to allow them to consciously channel the bioelectricity generated by their own bodies. These can be used in combat, or to revive a recalcitrant Machine Spirit. Those who specialise in the use of these and become essentially a living electricity generator are known as Electro-priests or "Luminen". * Electro-grafts, which are similar to Electoos in that they are electric circuits embedded in the epidermic layer of the skin, but are distinct in their purpose. Electro-grafts serve as an interface for the Tech-priest with electronic machinery, particularly sources of digital data like Cogitators (computers). Given the right data-sources, a Tech-priest with electro-grafts can acquire many skills and much specialist knowledge instantly. One example of this are the pilots from the planet Glavia who have electro-grafts in the skin of their hands to enable them to interface with their starships with much greater efficiency. * Vox-casters and voice-synthesizers, which often replace the normal speech organs of more senior Tech-priests. The quality of the synthesized voice is highly variable, from stilted and unnatural mechanical voices only as good as or worse than twenty-first century voice synthesizer standards to voices that sound almost entirely natural. The Tech-priests themselves generally do not seem to care what they sound like as long as they are understood. The main benefit of a Vox-caster appears to be that it allows the priest to communicate in what is termed "Binary". Essentially, Binary consists of bursts of coded noise with a twittering quality that can be used as an extremely effective cant known only to other members of the Adeptus Mechanicus (even the Snowflakes cannot translate it) or it can be used as a means of datafile transfer. More uncommon but still occasionally seen Mechanicus cybernetic augmentations include the: * Mind Impulse Unit (MIU) - The MIU is a direct neural link between a human brain and a larger piece of external machinery allowing control by thought alone as if the machinery was a part of the human's body. These are most commonly found in massive pieces of technology such as Airships, and some larger creatures made by the mechanicus, and very rarely in a normal Tech-priest. Some rare Tech-priests may use an MIU to control a shoulder-mounted weapon or similar device. * Binary Cortex - The Binary Cortex is created during an operation in which the brains of two Tech-priests are joined in one body. Usually used only when two Tech-priests study the same subject and otherwise align very well in their thinking. * Rite of Pure Thought - The Rite of Pure Thought is an operation which replaces the human brain's creative, emotional right half with a digital Cogitator (computer). This frees the Tech-priest of any remaining human emotion, basically turning him into a work-obsessed sociopath. However, this procedure is considered somewhat extreme even among the usually unsentimental Tech-priests. Priest initiates An priest initiate is close to a tech priest but have many a year to prove their worth to the omnissiah they carry maybe one implantation or even rarer two. Engiseer An Enginseer is a Tech-Initiate of the Adeptus Mechanicus whose specialisation is the maintenance and repair of the many technological instruments of the Ordo, both in peace as in war. Enginseers are the most commonly seen members of the Mechanicus, for they are present wherever a somewhat technologically advanced human settlement reside. By virtue of the ancient Treaty of Belldren, many Enginseers are attached to the ordo-Navigation and Ordo Navy, maintaining and repairing the Imperium's vehicles, aircraft, starships, and other wargear and ensuring that the warriors who prosecute the omnissiah’s wars always have the means to do so. These cybernetic holy men stand aloof from the Ordo military, concerned only with tending to the Machine Spirits of their foster regiment's many vehicles and weaponry. Genetor Essentially geneticists, a Genetor is a Mechanicus scholar who studies all matters genetic and biological. Genetors number alongside ranks of the Adeptus Mechanicus as members of its ruling Priesthood, possessing access to knowledge and resources far beyond that of the lesser Enginseers and Lexmechanics. A Genetor's field of study makes him distinct from the majority of Tech-priests, their professional obsession with organic life often making them seem strange to their more mechanically-inclined brethren. Their interest in the organic not only pertains to the human form, but to the study of xenos life as well. The study of alien genetics, intended to better understand them and thus how to better slay them, falls to a sub-sect of Genetors collectively known as the Xenobiologists. Genetors are typically found accompanying Imperial expeditions to new or rediscovered places so that they can sample previously unknown species' DNA for its potential utility. Genetors also introduce common Imperial animals to a new colonial ecosystem, such as the Grox, a large reptilian animal that serves as a common food source on many Imperial Towns.(very close to cows) Archmagos Lore A Magos is a master of a technological or scientific discipline, having devoted many years of service to the Omnissiah of study. There are two higher ranks within the Divisiones that are variations of the Magos, including Archmagos and Archmagos Veneratus. It is not known what the specific connotations of these titles are, though presumably they are indicative of greater seniority and experience. “We love to slap our cyber dong against the hull of toasters”